Washington Chain & Supply

Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness to Recommend Ways to Increase U.S. Exports; First Meeting is Friday.
Port of Los Angeles Deputy Executive Director for External Affairs Cynthia Ruiz has been named to the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness by Acting U.S. Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank. The Committee, comprised of 40 senior-level representatives of multiple industries and supply chain experts, will advise the Secretary, the U.S. Department of Transportation and other U.S. agencies on issues that affect the international competitiveness of U.S. businesses. The Committee holds its first meeting at the U.S. Department of Commerce headquarters in Washington D.C. on October 19.
“The Obama administration recognizes that in order to be competitive in today’s global economy, American manufacturers need to be able to move products and goods securely, quickly and efficiently within our borders and beyond,” said Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank. “The Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness will provide crucial input on issues related to national freight infrastructure and policies so that we can best support millions of U.S. businesses, export goods, compete domestically and globally and support American jobs.”

On July 7, a supply chain security expert from global container carrier APL outlined practical steps that would help achieve an improvement in the safety of international trade at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Symposium. Focusing on the topic of Total Supply Chain Security, Earl Agron, Vice President of Security for APL, told the high-level audience of government, military and industry leaders in Singapore that the five key steps that would help improve supply chain security

Many companies are competing for more than $168 million in U.S. government grants for port security.
The firms are seeking to get into the marketplace the funding will create for infrastructure enhancements,
Logistics Online reported.
Many of the competing firms will make presentations at the 5th North American Cargo Security Forum in Washington, DC, to be held next month, which will discuss federal funding, Logistics Online said.

IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu welcomed his counterparts, Raymond Benjamin, Secretary-General, ICAO, and Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary-General, WCO, to IMO Headquarters on Monday, July 8, where the three considered the further enhancement of collaboration between the Organizations in the fields of aviation, border and maritime security and facilitation. ICAO and the IMO perform their roles as specialized agencies of the United Nations, while the WCO is an independent intergovernmental body

Drewry’s Global Ocean Container and Air Freight Rate Benchmarks Available to LLamasoft Customers for Use in Supply Chain Modeling.
LLamasoft, a global leader in supply chain design software solutions, and Drewry Maritime Research, the leading provider of freight rate benchmarking today announce a partnership to make Drewry’s global ocean container and air freight rate benchmarks available to LLamasoft customers for use in supply chain design

Government and business publish a long-term strategy that will strengthen the UK’s position in the offshore wind industry. The multi-million pound investment has the potential to unlock £7 billion in the economy by 2020.
The UK currently has more offshore wind power than the rest of the world combined. The offshore wind industrial strategy aims to grow UK supply chain manufacturing so that more of the work and jobs can be done here.

An industry body set up to ensure businesses are ready to secure opportunities from decommissioning work over the coming years will shortly launch a major mapping exercise to help the supply chain benefit from the $38.6b to $46.3b of North Sea work forecast for the future.
The work by Decom North Sea will help promote the capability and capacity of the North Sea supply chain for decommissioning projects, as well as showcasing supply chain companies and their individual expertise and

The UK’s logistics industry has welcomed the opening of a new deepwater terminal at the country’s busiest container terminal, which is capable of handling the latest generation of container vessels.
The Felixstowe South Terminal will comprise two berths – 8 & 9 – and its owner, Hutchison Ports UK , claims it is currently the only facility in the country capable of handling the latest generation of containerships, which have capacities of up to 18

CEVA Logistics, a leading global supply chain management company, was awarded the Best Green Logistics Operator award at the 28th Asian Freight and Supply Chain Awards (AFSCA) held in Shanghai recently.
The annual awards organized by Cargonews Asia are designed to honor leading organizations for demonstrating leadership as well as consistency in service quality, innovation, customer relationship management and reliability.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced today that Lori Harper, vice president of supply chain management at the company's Ingalls Shipbuilding division, was named one of the state's 50 Leading Business Women by Mississippi Business Journal.
These 50 senior decision-makers are the most powerful, influential women business leaders in the state. More than an awards programs, the Top 50 Women is a development and networking organization that encompasses training opportunities for the

History was made at ABP’s Port of Teignmouth with the visit of its first ever cruise ship.
The Hebridean Princess, a luxury cruise ship, arrived from Dartmouth carrying 50 passengers.
They were welcomed by the town officials before embarking on a day trip around Teignmouth

Bruno Faure, Group Senior Vice President Subsea Projects and Operations at Technip has taken over the role of President of the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA), the association representing the interests of more than 1,000 offshore

Abu Dhabi Ports (ADP), the master developer, operator and manager of ports and industrial zones in the emirate, has successfully implemented Jade’s terminal operating system, Master Terminal, at Zayed Port.
It went live with its new terminal operating software on July 1

A Damen RoRo 5612 was launched this month at Halong Shipyard in Vietnam, the shipbuilder announced. The RoRo is one of nine Damen vessels ordered by the Royal Bahamas Defense Force as part of its Sandy Bottom Project. The vessel’s multipurpose capabilities will be put to use by the

An influential Australian senator has asked Japan to buy components for its Soryu submarines from Australian companies to boost its chances of winning a major contract to supply Canberra with a fleet of submarines.
Independent South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon made the request to submarine

2GO Group, Inc. plans to boost profit by a quarter this year amid a sanguine outlook on its logistics, distribution, and express courier businesses, a company official said.
The company has set a P1.1-billion ($0.04billion) net income target this year

Washington State Legislature’s passed a $16.2 billion transportation investment package that ports of Tacoma and Seattle say will benefit the state’s economy by speeding the movement of cargo through the ports and freight corridors.

PSA Peugeot Citroen is in advanced talks over an Iranian carmaking venture with historic partner Iran Khodro and expects rapid progress following the diplomatic breakthrough lifting sanctions against the country, the French company said.
The deal struck between Iran and western powers

Qatar Gas Transport Co (Nakilat), one of the world's largest shippers of liquefied natural gas, has registered a half yearly net profit of $135 million (QR490.2mn), up 10% on the same period last year.
The healthy financial results reflect “Nakilat’s strategic development

Addressing the House vote scheduled this afternoon on a temporary five-month extension of transportation funding, the National Retail Federation (NRF) issued the following statement from Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold:

Supply Chains Radically Shift From Pacific to Atlantic Ports in the First Half of 2015.
Zepol found that a hefty chunk of businesses have switched from using Pacific to Atlantic and Gulf ports this year. Total imports along the East Coast have increased by 15 percent

The National Retail Federation (NRF) and more than 100 other business groups called for passage of legislation that would require the Transportation Department to track port statistics, saying it could help avoid a repeat of the congestion and slowdowns that occurred along the West Coast during

Crowley Maritime Corp. informs it has responded to increased market demand, acquiring 16 additional ISO tanks for its Carib Energy group that will be used to supply, transport and distribute U.S.-sourced liquefied natural gas (LNG) to customers in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and Central America

Singapore-based Thome have signed a Safety Service agreement with Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS).
Ryan Dalgado, Procurement & Supply Chain Manager from Thome said, Working with WSS, we also benefit from their geographical spread and in-depth knowledge of local port procedures to keep port

DP World's first distribution centre at the London Gateway Logistics Park opened officially, with the UK's shipping minister, Robert Goodwill MP, in attendance.
Goodwill and DP World chairman, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, formalised the opening of the centre during a ribbon cutting